Monday, 24 March 2008

Hear, hear ! The rumor has it that a strange disease has come over many of our dear garden bloggers. It's becoming more and more widespread as I write this. Otherwise known as GTA (Gardeners Tagaholics Anonymous, NOT Grand Theft Auto), it is a very contagious disease that includes the following symptoms:

a strong need, or urge to tag someone (and who better than your fellow gardener)

loss of control (not being able to stop tagging people once the disease has overpowered you)

due to a strong feeling of commitment, one has a great need to post ten weird or random facts about oneself that most people don't know

due to an emphasized feeling of social correctness, one has an even greater need to tag about five more bloggers and state why he/she/it tagged them

if one feels repulsed by all the previously stated facts, one is not infected with GTA (google on for more weird diseases)

Is GTA a disease?Yes, it is a disease; the craving that the patient feels for tagging oneself as well as others can be as strong as the need for food or water, or even chocolate easter eggs.Is GTA inherited?Research shows that the risk for developing GTA does indeed run in families. The genes a person inherits partially explain this pattern, but lifestyle is also a factor (gardeners belong to a group that's particularly prone to this disease).How is GTA transmitted?Tagging, tagging and more tagging.Clinical prevention?None available.

Now that I've given a 'rather short' preliminary introduction, let me just mention that I have also been tagged and contaminated. The lovely Linda, better known to all of you asGarden girl, has tagged me. Why she did such a thing by infecting me on purpose, has been and still is beyond my understanding. I have now no other choice but to answer my inner craving and share some random facts about myself. Mind you, as my prime idol once said, I have nothing to declare but my genious. Nevertheless...

To start with the worst: I have one big phobia- arachnophobia. The spiders scare me shitless. No matter how good, clean or comfy the hotel seems, I will not sleep in my room if there's a single spider anywhere about. I'll either stay up all night working on my stiff neck, scanning the ceiling and the corners, the sheets and the side of my bed, or I'll go out and sleep in the car (at those times, it never occurs to me that it's quite possible that there's at least one spider somewhere in that car). I was once caught sleeping in the car somewhere among the beautifully scented pine forests of Croatian coast, when some vacuous copper (who obviously ran out of donuts) started grumbling about how sleeping in the car or anywhere else in the tourist area is forbidden if you don't pay for it. I showed him the room key and the finger.

Although born as a city child, I've been mesmerized by gardens and nature since I could remember. Visiting my nanna's countryside home always did make my day. I also used to save all the stray animals from the streets driving my folks crazy whenever I popped up with a new pet.

I now live in a former countryside gone all urbanized (just 15 minutes from the capital's centre), on my late nan's estate which remains one of the few green oasis in the concrete vicinity. I still live with my folks, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and all sorts of other creatures including my younger sister. ;-) I would never want to live anywhere else and I can be quite patriotic at times. I'm officially unemployed but I earn a decent amount of cash with part-time translating, and through betting (I have learned how to bridle my betting horses), and guess what, most of it ends up in the local nursery.

I was born with a musical gift, known as absolute or perfect pitch. My folks discovered it at my age of 5 because I would instantly start playing on my little piano whatever song I had heard on the radio. I went both to musical primary and musical high school at the same time as the normal school. Some of my piano tutors wanted me to pursue a career at a Russian conservatory, but hell no, I didn't like the idea of anyone telling me what to play and what not to play, and scolding me for all the garden dirt under my fingernails, or for my sprained fingers which were the result of my other childhood passions - handball and volleyball. Even though just a kid, I decided to play it my way. I kept tuning my friends' guitars without the help of any other instrument, or playing people's music wishes at different parties, including my prom. After 12 years of musical education, I didn't chose to go to the academy, but my love for music never faded, as it is one of a few things as relaxing for both my mind and soul in addition to gardening. I'm still a senior college student at the University of Zagreb (mind you, Croatia is one of those countries where you can be a student for quite a long period of time, lingering as a final year student) with majors in English and French language and literature, and with 'just' a few final exams standing in the way of my degree. My French language skills used to suck and for a while I was in doubt whether to end it all and choose another major. Instead, I have decided to take a temporary break (that lasted a few years) and in the meantime I earned a degree in audio/video editing. Nowadays I'm glad I pursued with my French, and hopefully on my next trip to Paris, I won't get that scornful look as when communicating in English.

My ex-boyfriend was English (and no, that's not how I learned the language, my English is still miles better than his, he'll confirm that anytime lol). It lasted for almost 5 years. And as wonderful and good a person he was, it was never meant to be. The distance made us drift further and further away. I guess it wasn't the real thing, but I'm glad I gained a friend for life. And fell in love with the Yorkshire countryside.

My favourite side dish: french fries and mayo. It's also my favourite main dish. Soup and pasta are probably the only food I don't eat with mayo. People often wonder how the hell I remain so slim ( that's why I loved my time in England, I ate fish&chips every single day, with tons of mayo).

There you have it, it might have took me 'a bit more' than 10, but it could have been a lot more had my fingers not started to numb away... Now I have to tag 5 more people, I'll take a few moments for reminiscence of all the wonderful blogs I've come across lately and then decide where to spread this plague...

Viooltje, that was wonderful. Thank you for sharing so much about yourself. It's nice to know more about the woman behind the blog, someone I already thought was an interesting person. I see I thought right.

I really enjoyed learning more about you, and I love your blog even more now.

You're welcome and thanx for the lovely compliments. Half way through it I realized I got 'a bit' carried away, and I was wondering whether to minimize font to make it look shorter and less detailed ;-). In the end, I was completely taken over by the vicious disease and I didn't really care anymore. I have a big cheeky grin on my face, as I'm mischievously contemplating about my future tag-victims. So thank you again for spreading the plague. And you're right, I never doubted about all the gardeners behind their lovely blogs being wonderful and interesting individuals, each in their own way, but this was a genuinely great idea. And I'm glad you changed your mind and it was you who tagged me, as the owner of one of my favourite blogs. Who knows what we are about to find out about fellow-gardeners.

Oh drats! We tagged you over on Blotanical but now I see that you've already been tagged AND already did your post. Double drats! It really does spread quickly. Does that mean we have to tag someone else? This GTA is such a horrible illness. Your post is wonderful, Viooltje.

@ weed whackin' wenches:Lol, I don't make the rules but I think it counts anyway. As far as I'm concerned. There shouldn't be any rules anyway, as GTA spreads like a plague and I'm sure we'll all get tagged sooner or later. I was about to tag yourselves but someone beat me to it. Thx for stopping by again.@ blue fox:It wasn't my intention to outdo anyone, I simply got carried away...;-)Big time. But still, it's quite an honour coming from your very self. Thx for the complimentsand I'm delighted with your visit.

Viooltje .. that was amazing ..I could have kept reading and reading. I didn't want it to stop it was so interesting .. I was making little mental notes but when I do that .. they all seem to drop over a "forgetful cliff" .. and I have to read all over again.I was waiting to see if you were going to list the spider-phobia .. I would be right there too with my moth issues .. good team we would make at night time eh ? LOLThat was such a lovely story of your life .. have you written novels ? .. You would be wonderful at it.Ok .. my comments are getting too long now .. but wow ! that was great !Thank you Joy

I always enjoy your comments as much as your posts. Me? Novels? I don't think so, I'd run out of ink and paper, or wear out my keyboard before I'd even get to the point of it all. Getting carried away with stuff - story of my life. I don't mind longer comments, keeps my mind away as I unconsciously listen to the gentle sound of icy rain knocking on my roof window. What a beautiful sound and such a dreadful effect. My poor crops and blooms. This weather is really starting to put me down, and I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed a bit of gardening. The springtime seems to be stuck somewhere in the Q continuum and needs a kick in the butt!

Perfect timing. Just as I've decided to let my cats out of the bag ;-) I'm glad you've paid a visit to my garden. This Easter weather was really awkward. One would think being Mediterranean n'all the place would be bursting with spring delights. But no, we've had the weirdest weather ever. Snow in March, that's nothing strange, we've had it in April a few times, but these sudden weather changes, and massive temperature drops, that's mental. We've had lovely sunshine morning, full of springtime scents in the air, but then, few hours later, all of a sudden massive snow showers, icy rain and something I can't even describe, never mind the frost, while our coastal regions were hit with snow, tiny tornadoes & some crazy windstorms.So I've hardly enjoyed any of the Easter joy, I've had my mind full of migraines and frost worries.Whenever in the UK, I always enjoyed wonderful weather, while all of my folks thought I'd be stuck in mistyshire. I guess the global warming is starting to demonstrate more and more of its 'virtues'.And btw, yes that was cheeky lil me lurking about your blog, actually I was drooling over your fascinating shed. Well done!

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My private peace of heaven

a diary of my continental garden in Croatia, South Central Europe

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, There is rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep sea and the music in its roar; I love not man the less, but Nature more.”

How did it all start ?

As a child, I spent my happiest moments playing in my grandma's garden. Apart from the precious memories, I was left with a wonderful legacy - the green thumb ;-), of course, and a garden that has made me an eternal captive.

''To own a bit of ground,to scratch it with a hoe,to plant seeds, and watchthe renewal of life -this is the commonestdelight of the race, the most satisfactorything a man can do.''